“Worried about what?”
“I don’t know. It’s like she doesn’t want to have fun because she feels too nervous.” She side-eyes me before flicking her eyes back to the game. “I think she’s lonely.”
My heart sinks. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yep. She doesn’t have any friends besides Ms. Dominique, and she doesn’t have a boyfriend or a husband like all my friends’ parents.” Her car crashes into a roadblock, and she growls as she tries to spin it around. “She spends all her time with me and Avery. I mean, I know we’re awesome, but she’s an adult. She should be doing adult things.”
I sigh as I blink up at the ceiling. “She cares about you guys a lot. She just wants to make sure you’re taken care of. That’s what parents do; they put kids before their own needs.”
“Well, I don’t think I could ever be a parent. If I want to do something, I don’t want an annoying kid to stop me.”
I bark out a laugh. “What if your kid isn’t annoying though? What if he or she is like you?”
She thinks on it a minute. “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
I love this kid.
When everyone gets hungry, we stop at the pizzeria next door to the arcade. I strategically sit next to Avery so I can question him about some of the things Alyssa said.
“Okay, Ave’. Real talk for a minute.” I lean my elbows on the table. “How’s your aunt doing—and not theI’m finebullshit she tells you.”
He heaves a sigh far too heavy for a teenager. “She’s doing a lot for us, working and driving us everywhere. I feel bad. If I could afford a car, I’d be able to drive myself around and help out with Alyssa more, but...” He shrugs.
“When do you get your license? Are you taking Driver’s Ed classes?”
He nods. “I can drive with an adult when I turn sixteen if I get my permit.”
I make a mental note to get him a reliable car when he’s ready.
“What are some things she needs help with around the house?” I take out my phone and click on my notes app. “I can take care of the landscaping when the winter is over. Is there anything that needs to be fixed inside?”
Avery widens his eyes as he nods. “There’s a bunch of stuff on her to-do list on the fridge, but she’s always too tired to get to it.”
“Can you take a picture of it and text it to me later?”
“Sure.” He arches a brow. “She’s not going to like us going behind her back like this.”
I hike a shoulder. “She’ll get over it once she sees all the work we get done.”
“You’ll let me help?”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“I don’t really know how to do anything.”
“So, you’ll learn. I learned how to do lots of stuff from my dad growing up.”
He glances down at his plate. “Guess that’s why I don’t know how to do anything.”
Sadness tugs at my heart. I pat him on the back. “I’ll teach you. Don’t worry about it. I can even pay you. You can be like my apprentice.”
He coughs out an incredulous laugh. “Yeah, right. Aunt Presley will never go for it.”
I lean in and lower my voice. “It’ll be our little secret.”
“And your funeral,” he whispers.
He’s probably not wrong.
